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Tuesday, November 15, 2011

As much as I love going out and socializing with others I have always been a homebody. I absolutely love and adore being able to stay at home and watch a great movie or read a great book. This is one of the reasons I love winter. What better excuse to stay home then the weather is too terribly cold to go out. Growing up in the prairies you get use to finding things to do at home as -40 weather in the winter time is a normal occurrence.

If you are looking for a movie to enjoy at home no matter if your having a date night, girls night in or you just want to relax then I definitely recommend checking out the movie My Sister's Keeper staring Cameron Diaz and Abigail Breslin and so many more wonderful actors and actresses. My first piece of advice is to ensure that you have ample tissue available as this is a very moving picture that had me in tears for a lot of it.

No parent ever wants to face the news that their child is terminally ill and this movie takes you through the journey of one family that did receive the news and the path they went on to save their child. The Fitzgeralds go to the extent of having the Dr's create a test tube baby, Anna, that would be a perfect match for her leukemia stricken sister Kate. Anna knows she was created to help save her sisters life, which means she has gone through multiple surgery's over the years and donated parts of herself to her sister. Though now at 11 years old she makes a stand and takes her family to court in order to control her own body. As Anna's sisters kidneys are failing she is expected to donate one of her own and now must choose between saving her sister or being able to lead a "normal" and healthy life with both her own kidneys.

One clear point I received from this movie that we forget to listen to children and act as though they can not make appropriate decisions or can not have an valid opinion because of their age. This movie clearly shows that ones age does not determine how mature one is and how capable they are to make decisions. However, my heart truly does break for any child that goes through what these children did. Though it does show how important ones family unit is and how this unit can help one go through the worst times in their life.

I do agree on the lesson of kids making their own decisions, and I think as parents is our job to not only give them the opportunity to make small decisions regularly, so they get in the habit, and know they can do it. But when the decision affects them directly, give them all the sides, and let them have a say. Obviously sometimes as parents we need to choose what is best, but letting them speak their thoughts and why is a good skill building exercise. It also gives them confidence and teaches them you care about their opinions.